The Gulf Belt
The Gulf Belt, also known as the Mexican Circle and the Gulf Rim, is the name attributed to the maritime trade route that follows the contours of the Gulf of Mexico's various shores. From the Corpse Coast to Cuba and from Tamaulipas to the Gold Coast the Gulf Trade Belt takes the merchants traveling her route from the Protectorate's capital of Tampico to The Corpse Coast to The Big Easy moving onto the Gold Coast and then down south to Cuba, ending in the merchant's return to Tampico. History Zachary Hale was the first merchant to trawl what would become the Gulf Trade Belt, Zachary was a successful cattleman from the Cattle Country of Tamaulipas. He had originally set out on his trip in search of a new market for Longhorn cattle, starting out from Tampico and promptly made his way up the Mexican and Texan coast, all finding that the Falfurrias Brahmin Ranchers had a tight grip over the area's food supply, and it wasn't until he reached the coast off The Royaume that he found vendors willing to do business with him. Many of the merchants and vendors he met with were from the Mississippi Traders Union looking to take the higher quality Longhorn beef up the Mississippi and sell it to buyers in Boss Town and Baton Rouge. Much to Zachary's pleasure the vendors were willing to pay top dollar for the Longhorn beef, he was willing to provide, and once the deal was sealed he sent word back down the coast to his family and foremen on the Hale Ranch outside of Valle Hermoso. From there he returned to Mexico. Following Hale many other prospective merchants would follow in his footsteps, sailing along the Gulf coast, charting the coastline, marking the locations of civilization and trading where the locals would accept their goods. Eventually, the trade route was fully charted, and the trade ports marked along it became flooded with Rafter merchants and along with these Rafter merchants came a flood of pirates. Everything from Corsairs to Buccaneers prowled the sea lanes and shores of the Gulf coast and despite the efforts of Privateers and well to do mercenaries the sea lanes are still relatively dangerous for the average merchant. However outside of these nautical outlaws, the merchants riding the Belt have also fallen victim to such people as the Kingdom of Two Princes, Batarian Pirates, and the Gold Coast Tariffs & Protections League. All these groups have attempted to extract fees from the traveling merchants and in the case of the Kingdom, it attempted to force the merchants to pay the fees by hiring privateers to attack merchants who refused to pay the tariffs. However, the Kingdom, in the end, was toppled by the merchants it targeted in the Battle of Rocky Point. Stops & Destinations *The Big Easy *Rumrunner Bay *Fort Pen *Tampa **Old Tampa Bay Trading Post **Ybor City *El Punto de Trinidad *Little Israel *Key West *Old Havana *Cancun *Mérida *Tampico *La Baronia de Mar *The Lexxx *Pentecoastal *Slidell Perils & Dangers *Barataria Bay *Pentecoastal (to those of any other religion, or look like they are) *Kingdom of Two Princes (formerly) *Mutant Sea Life **''Les Blancs'' **Green Hides **Red Eye *Carter's Corsairs *Court of the Bayou *Fort Jefferson *Brethren of the Shroud *Matthias Dugan (formerly) Category:Places Category:Mexico Category:Tamaulipas Category:Mississippi Category:Texas